How to empower yourself with wisdom
Back in school, deep in the mountains, I made a life-threatening decision on a trek. Despite the teacher warning each child to stay with the group, my friend and I decided to explore on our own. We managed to hide, and once the group was out of sight, we cheered at the thrill of being on our own.
It wasn’t long before a mean-looking bull seemed to appear from nowhere! It stared at us menacingly and its sharp horns even more intimidating. We were too scared to scream or run. I knew we were in real danger — the mountain path was slim with no room to get past the bull. Each thought weighed ten times heavier than the backpack I carried — reality slowly peaked its ugly head — we were stuck! Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, the bull pawed the ground, scattering dirt into the air. I was certain it would charge, but I heard a sound. It was my teacher calling.
I never thought I’d say this, but that day my teacher’s voice was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. He scared the bull away, rescuing us from the terrible situation.
The lesson I learnt was to obey rules and follow the teacher’s instructions rather than deciding for myself on a whim. Since then I’ve made many decisions big and small — sometimes careless and sometimes great, but I’ve come up with a framework to improve the decision-making process.
In the above case I chose to ignore rules. I was adamant in my childish beliefs. The reality: danger is imminent deep in the forest, and I should’ve been wiser.
Good decisions rely on finding the truth about a situation combined with the wisdom to follow. Knowledge and wisdom are the bedrocks of solid decisions.
Here are 4 core steps to strengthen your decision-making:
1. Gather Knowledge
When my friend wanted to buy a car, he researched the various models, weighed in on features, mileage, traction, sound system and most importantly his budget. He wanted to get a BMW for its reliability. It made sense, and all the facts stated so. However, his wisdom told him not yet. Apparently, they’re expensive to maintain, and he didn’t have the budget for it.
Instead, after considering his best research-backed options, he chose a Honda. The same goes for companies where decision-making is based on finding facts in a step-by-step process rather than relying on opinions and one-sided stories. This format is called “Root-Cause Analysis,” a term developed by the founder of Toyota. It involves asking “why” questions to determine the cause of a problem. Once the cause emerges, the right decision can be made.
Right from a trip to the grocery store to the doctors office, there is a process of knowledge-gathering in order to make good decisions. However, once in a while you come across faulty knowledge or misinformation, and that’s when you need to rely on wisdom to complete the decision-making process.
Take the case of the US Department of Agriculture — considered an authority on matters related to food. In 1992, they released the Food Guide Pyramid which clumped refined carbs like white bread with whole grains without making a distinction. While we know now that whole grains are fine, but back then the information skewed choices. The USDA had also discouraged healthy fats by stacking them alongside sugars and trans fats. However, recent research says healthy unsaturated fats are crucial to a balanced diet. These are found in foods like nuts, seeds, and avocados, which would’ve been a big no in the 90’s.
It goes to show that informed decisions are not the only factor in decision-making — common sense and wisdom are vital too. There is a center within us that actually generates this wisdom. With regular meditation, you tap into this power. Let’s also look at what else you can do to strengthen this quality.
2. Deepen Your Inner Wisdom
While wisdom is considered an innate quality, it can be acquired through experience — whether one’s own or by studying wise people. If you do a quick search on the web for famous wise people, you’ll come across a range of names from religious to scientific such as Lao-Ste, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Einstein and so on.
In other words, most people find there is much to learn from them, and there may be a point to it. If you pick up a book or movie on any of these legends, you’ll find life-changing quotes, stories and lessons to imbibe. It’s surely a great way to strengthen inner wisdom.
Consider this: A friend borrowed money from you and never returned it. You discreetly sent a reminder, but your friend ignored it and even turned against you. You’re shocked and angered by the behavior. Do you decide to seek revenge or do you place yourself in the shoes of a wise person and ask how would they have responded? What would they do in such a situation? This is how wisdom grows, refining your fight-or-flight response, keeping your heart-rate stable and your muscles in control. Placing a steady foot on the accelerator of self-control leads to safer driving, and that is a good decision.
Strengthening inner wisdom fast-tracks you to better decision-making. This wisdom is often inherent in animals, nature and children.
3. Lessons From Living Creatures
Nature’s wisdom is inherent. When winter descends, a tree sheds leaves. According to botanist, Peter Raven:
“Those changes trigger a hormone in leaf-dropping trees that sends a chemical message to every leaf that says, in essence, “Time to go! Let’s part company!””
Raven elaborates on how leaves serve as the tree’s culinary workforce. Throughout the warmer seasons, they diligently manufacture nourishment, fostering the tree’s growth. As days shorten and temperatures drop, food production diminishes, presenting the tree with a choice: retain its culinary staff or release them.
Sometimes emotions blur the decision landscape, but nature follows rhythmic wisdom without getting carried away. So when you observe nature, you find clarity, and also connect with your own wisdom.
It’s not just nature, but also animals that display understanding. Elephants are known to make good decisions in leading their families to sources of water. They also excel in instilling behavior patterns such as togetherness, care and respect. Studies show that their best leaders are usually the oldest with enhanced abilities to make crucial decisions on survival.
Going by the growing evidence that displays clever traits in animals, it might make sense when you’re faced with a choice, to ask yourself:
“What would the elephants do?”
While this is a fun way to explore wisdom, it may not be easy to follow animal behaviors if you’re living in a city, but there’s another source of wisdom that’s likely half your height.
4. Study Children
“People where you live,” the little prince said, “grow five-thousand roses in one garden… Yet they don’t find what they’re looking for… And yet what they’re looking for could be found in a single rose.”
The wisdom of children lies in simplicity. Sometimes adults overthink to a point of no-decision. Once, a businessman who was stringent about noting down all appointments and tasks for the week, added his family picnic to the list. When the day arrived, he drove his children to the picnic spot only to realize he forgot to take everything, because it was in his to-do file lying at home!
Frustrated, he thought the picnic was a failure. Lucky for him, his children didn’t quite think so. They got busy splashing in the pond and playing catch. Often children live in the moment, and don’t overcomplicate situations. Their innate wisdom keeps them going strong despite seeming hurdles. When you’re faced with difficulty deciding, sometimes it’s better to step back, watch children and find simpler ways to assess a situation or watch it from another perspective.
The more you tune into the sources of wisdom, the more you replenish your own reservoir. In wisdom you find solutions that otherwise seem daunting. Combine your regular practice of Sahaja Yoga meditation with practical knowledge, and you’re sure to succeed on the path to good decision-making.
